So as some of you know, last year Jonathan Price left the Dove Brothers, and no other reason was given besides his needing to deal with some “personal issues.” It was a pretty quick exit without much fanfare. One didn’t need to know more about the situation to guess that things weren’t going well just from the press release.

McCray hired a replacement and it seemed like the group was going to move into a new chapter. But now it seems that everything old is new again, because Keith is stepping down and Jonathan is returning. David Bruce Murray was in communication with both McCray and Keith and has provided some interview snippets on his blog here.

In that interview, both Keith and McCray assure fans that the decision for Keith to step down was mutual, with nothing but good will on either side. Keith feels more comfortable singing lead than tenor and would like to form his own family group, a male trio with his sons called Blindsight (so be watching for them). As for Price’s return, McCray had this to share:

Some people know Jonathan needed some time off to deal with some personal issues. We’ve had a lot of discussion with him about where he is in his life right now. We know the type of life he’s living and the type of man he is striving to be. He has had offers to sing with other groups in the past year, but felt he needed to take some time off before coming back. We feel like he has too much desire and talent to be denied that opportunity.

I confess this really surprised me. The only comparable situation I can think of where a singer was let go for personal reasons and then later welcomed back is Michael English. But there you had a gap of quite a few years. This is only about a year. [Edit: A reader has pointed out in comments that English actually had already left the group for a solo career before his personal problems began, so the first part of the comparison is inapplicable.] However, I have the utmost respect for how McCray has conducted himself through these changes, and I trust him to know what’s best for his own group. He seems confident in his choice to extend grace and clearly knows Jonathan very well. Let’s hope and pray he can help Price move forward not only in his musical career but also in his spiritual walk.